Drive in through the gates, up the drive, and turn the corner under a large dark spreading conifer and you will come to the main house looking out over the gentle slope of the front park.
The gardens are screened to the west side by a tall yew hedge. If you walk under the loggia you will find the front door of the house facing you. Turn left and go through the side door of the loggia and you will come out on a generous, sunny, tiled terrace with green lawns and a line of strangely shaped yew trees climbing up the slope, towards the wood. In front of the yew hedge is the Long Border, planted in hot colours, winding along parallel to the drive right to the end where the woodland walk starts (or finishes), or you can turn and go down the semicircular steps onto the lawn with the young cedar of Lebanon on your left (planted for Nonny’s 80th in 2002)
Alternatively you can walk along the terrace and up the stone steps, through the three little terrace gardens planted with species native to this country or introduced before 1800, in the second of which is a sundial in the form of an armillary sphere. At the top of the steps is an Edwardian summerhouse and to your right is the North Garden planted with choice shrubs and perennials in contrasting strong and muted shades of colour. There is also a small rock garden, these gardens have been managed by Nonny until recently.
If you walk through the North Garden branching off from the main path to your right past a small shed, you will come out at the woodshed on your right, and a drying green with clotheslines to your left, behind which are the salad beds, and a small greenhouse. In front of the drying green is the herb garden, handy for the kitchen which is close by.
Continue in the same direction until you reach the wall of the outbuilding on your left, turn up the small, flagged path and then right where you will reach the Granary and the Barn where you may find someone working on an art project, pressing apples or fixing the tractor. Beyond these buildings lies the Greenhouse and Walled Garden.
If you prefer you could walk around the woodshed, to the east side of the house, past a small courtyard, and through to the front of Braziers, with the loggia on your right. There you will find the Water Garden with its long narrow pool leading to a statue at the end, its inhabited by news, frogs, dragonflies and the usual pond life and is an ongoing renovation project. There is an old shrub border to the left of the pool and another more recently planted shrub-backed border, planted in shades of blue, white and yellow to enclose the water garden from the drive.